Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA)

An act to provide for the reporting and disclosure of certain financial transactions and administrative practices of labor organizations and employers, to prevent abuses in the administration of trusteeships by labor organizations, to provide standards with respect to the election of officers of labor organizations, and for other purposes.

The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959—known as the Landrum-Griffin Act after its sponsors, U.S. Rep. Phillip Landrum (D-Georgia) and Sen. Robert Griffin (R-Michigan)—was enacted after Congressional investigations uncovered substantial corruption of labor unions to give union members information about the financial dealings of their unions and to guarantee member involvement in unions’ internal governance. The Landrum-Griffin Act instituted a bill of rights for union members, which included protections of members’ right to speak out on union matters without interference, to run for local union offices in secret ballot elections, and to a fair internal union discipline process.[1] The Landrum Griffin Act also established a series of disclosures that labor unions must file on their expenditures, reported on federal forms filed with the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor-Management Standards.[2]